Elista Grand Prix starts, with wins by Jakovenko and Gashimov

12/14/2008 – Originally scheduled for Doha in Qatar, the third FIDE Grand Prix had to be
hurriedly moved to Elista, Kalmykia, causing a number of withdrawals. Still,
it is a category 19 event, which started with a colorful opening ceremony and
two decisive games, one of which ended an 82-game unbeaten streak by the Chinese
GM Wang Yue. Playchess.com is broadcasting
the games live. Illustrated report.

FIDE Grand Prix in Elista 2008

The Third FIDE Grand Prix tournament is taking place in Elista from December
13 to 29, 2008. Despite the recent withdrawals and the absence of players like
Anand, Kramnik and Topalov, the tournament is very strong (category 19). The venue, originally Doha, is now "City Chess" in Elista, Kalmykia.
There are 14 players from nine countries:

The most notable result of round one was Jakovenko vs Wang Yue. The Russian
GM ended his Chinese colleague's incredible streak of 82 successive games without
defeat – a record surpassed only by Mikhail Tal's 93 games in 1973/74
and, more recently, Sergey Tiviakov's 110 games without loss, played from 28.10.2004
until 28.09.2005.

There were a number of short, non-belligerent draws: Bacrot-Kasimdzhanov lasted
13½ moves, while Leko-Akopian and Mamedyarov-Grischuk were both 28 moves
long. On the other hand Radjabov-Cheparinov was a hard-fought draw in 45 moves;
likewise Inarkiev-Alekseev in 49 moves. The marathon was a 93-mover in which
Vugar Gashimov of Azerbaijan outplayed Ukrainian GM Pavel Eljanov to take a
full point.

Picture Gallery

On arrival at Elista Airport one is greeted by colorfully attired young Kalmyk
ladies

Chinese GM Wang Yue with his silk shawl, which the ladies present to the guests

Links

The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and
on the chess server Playchess.com.
If you are not a member you can download ChessBase Light, which gives
you immediate access. You can also use it to read, replay and analyse
the PGN games. Download
free PGN reader ChessBase Light

See also

9/26/2017 – The final classical game. The finals has been relatively sedate with three draws until now. But it could all end today with one decisive game. Ding Liren has the black pieces today. It's going to be an exciting game. Games kick off at 13:00 CEST (7:00 AM EST) with live commentary from Tbilisi by GMs Evgeny Miroshnichenko and WGM Keti Tsatsalashvili and live updates by our reporters Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal.

See also

7/5/2017 – This is neither prank nor clever wording: Garry Kasparov will be playing in the official St. Louis leg of the Grand Chess Tour from August 14-19, 2017. Please note that this is the Rapid and Blitz competition, just as the ones held in Paris and Levuen these last weeks, and not the classical events. However, this is not an exhibition event, and will determine the official Grand Chess Tour rankings as well as FIDE ratings of the players. Here is the press release.

Video

Tired of spending hours and hours on the boring theory of your favourite opening? Then here is your solution, play an Anti-Sicilian with 3.Bb5 against 2...d6 or 2...Nc6, and 3.d3 against 2...e6. In 60 minutes you will get a crash course in how to avoid mainstream theory and in understanding the ideas of this Anti-Sicilian setup. After these 60 minutes you should be able to survive the Sicilian for a long time, without being bothered by new developments found by engine x supported by an x-core machine. Now that it finally comes down to understanding, let's play chess!